Child Care-Panel Discussion

January 27, 1998 CHILD CARE PANEL DISCUSSION DATE: Wednesday, January 28 TIME: 12:10 PM - 3:00 PM LOCATION: Trinity College Hartford, CT FROM: Brenda Costello I. PURPOSE To highlight the President's Child Care Initiative, including the Early Learning Fund, and to highlight what Connecticut has done for child care. II. BACKGROUND Your visit to Trinity College will be comprised of a visit to the Trinity College Community Child Center, and a panel discussion with leading child care experts and members of the Trinity College community followed by questions from the audience. Representative Barbara Kennelly will participate in both. Elaine Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Connecticut Commission on Children will moderate the discussion. Trinity College Community Child Center Trinity College Community Child Center (TCCCC) was created in 1985 to provide a fully integrated child care center -- racially, ethnically, and economically -- that serves the needs of working families. The center is open to anyone in the community, and serves children from the surrounding neighborhood, children of Trinity faculty, children whose parents are employed in downtown Hartford, and those recently coming off public assistance. Sixty-six percent of families are residents of Hartford. The Center emphasizes scholarship availability to maintain diversity and a highly qualified staff, and enabled over one-third of families to benefit from scholarship assistance last year. Serving 180 children ages 6 weeks to 12 years in its seven nationally accredited programs, TCCCC operates at two sites on campus and one at a local elementary school. Approximately 26 percent of children enrolled in the Center are Hispanic, 33 percent African American, and 33 percent white. The Birth to Five Program was established to provide scholarship support for low-income neighborhood children and currently serves 50 children. The Campus Care program, which you will visit Wednesday, describes the Kindergarten, Before-School and After- school programs, Summer Camp, and Snow and Vacation Day programs. An After-